MacBook Pro M1 Thunderbolt port speed discrepancy

MacBook Pro M1

64GB Memory

Tahoe 26.3

MacBookPro18,2


SSD Setup:

> Samsung 970 EVO NVMe M.2

> OWC express1m2


Cable: OWC 0.3M Thunderbolt 5


Testing speed software: Blackmagic Disk Speed Test APP




I am experiencing an issue with the performance of my thunderbolt ports.


> When I plug in the SSD to the Thunderbolt port on the right side of the MBP (near the HDMI port) and run the speed test for 1GB stress, I get performance around 1000Mb/s.


> When I plug in the SSD to the Thunderbolt port on the left side of the MBP (near the power port) and run the speed test for 1GB stress, I get performance around 3500Mb/s.


Does this seem strange to anyone?

Possibly there is an issue with the ports?

Is anyone experiencing this same issue?


Any help would be appreciated.


MacBook Pro (M1 Max, 2021)

Posted on Mar 6, 2026 10:20 AM

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2 replies

Mar 7, 2026 9:17 PM in response to Joeartist

It is certainly possible the right USB-C port is damaged. When repairing my organization's laptops, I find many of them have damaged USB-C ports. Unfortunately it is very hard to see the damage by viewing the contacts through the port opening so it is very easy to miss some signs of damage.


You can try rotating the USB-C connector 180º upside down to see if that makes any difference. If the port is half bad, then sometimes this can make a difference. The 1,000Mb/s sounds like it may only be connecting at USB3 speeds of 10Gb/s which is the maximum USB3.1 speed supported by Apple on this laptop. (Yes USB4 is supported, but it is handled differently than USB3). I would try rotating the cable connector on the left side to see if it affects the speed just in case the issue is with the cable or drive enclosure.

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MacBook Pro M1 Thunderbolt port speed discrepancy

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